Puerto Rico said that Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla granted an extension for when advisers are scheduled to deliver a proposal to restructure the commonwealth’s $72 billion debt burden to Sept. 8 because government officials were focused in the past week on the possible impact of tropical storm Erika, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The plan had been scheduled to be sent to Garcia Padilla on Aug. 30. The work of the designated group, the consultant’s analysis, and the final drafting of the document have not been completed, Víctor Suárez Meléndez, the governor’s chief of staff, said in a statement Saturday. A Puerto Rico restructuring would be the largest ever in the $3.6 trillion municipal-bond market. After a history of borrowing to push out debt payments and fill budget gaps, the commonwealth is seeking to break the cycle with investors declining to lend more money. The governor said in June that the island could no longer afford to make its debt payments.
